Labour’s Lisa Nandy called the figures ‘scandalous’ and promised the party would spearhead a warm homes programme and give greater rights and protections to renters
The Tories were last night blasted for the huge number of social housing tenants living in hazardous homes.
One in 10 told a survey by homeless charity Shelter that their houses were unsafe. More than half cited problems with damp and mould, and 11% fear dodgy Âelectrics could spark a fire. The scandal comes as we reveal today a family of seven is living in a tent, claiming a rat infestation drove them out of their four-bed home.
It also follows years of cuts to social housing since a Conservative-led coalition took power in 2010. Labour ‘s Lisa Nandy called the figures “scandalous”. The Shadow Housing Secretary said: “The scale of the problem is shocking and proves that measures to treat social housing tenants with more respect are long overdue.
“Labour will introduce a warm homes programme, update the Decent Homes Standard and give greater rights and protections to renters.” Latest figures show 8.87 million households rent from a local authority or housing associations in England. Of those, 29% were not satisfied after requesting a repair job in the last 12 months. Some 10% of properties also failed to meet the Decent Homes Standard last year â and 1.2 million were stuck on social housing waiting lists.